1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to a method, system, and program means for reducing the chance of a user accidentally making a menu selection error, without causing the user extra effort in responding to a confirmation dialog; and, more specifically, to a menu layout in which some menu choices are spatially isolated from other selected menu choices; and to an enablement of the cursor to move at different speeds and other user notification means when the cursor approaches or travels through the region that isolates the menu choice.
2. Description of the Related Art
Considering that users rely on computers for a significant number of tasks performed every day, and that a variety of computers and computer software are used for these tasks; ease of use has become an important factor in a user""s computer usage efficiency. For example, pointing devices and displayed menu items in a user interface increase the ease of use of computers and computer software and thus, increase a user""s computer usage efficiency.
Although the use of a pointing device allows a user to navigate through an application and its interface with convenience and speed, the ease with which the displayed pointer can be moved often leads to errors when the user overshoots and clicks on the wrong menu choice. Menus often get constructed in a way that can lead a user into making serious errors. For example, an error might cause the user to inadvertently close a program. On the xe2x80x98Filexe2x80x99 menu of a popular user interface, the xe2x80x98Printxe2x80x99 menu choice is directly above the xe2x80x98Closexe2x80x99 choice. If the user accidentally overshoots xe2x80x9cPrintxe2x80x9d and clicks on xe2x80x98Closexe2x80x99 while attempting to print, the program terminates, and the program must be restarted. In addition, the user must repeat all of the steps in the program to get back to the point in the program prior to the occurrence of the error. These repeated steps can be burdensome and irritating to a user.
The user interface for Netscape has a visual line separating some menu choices from other menu choices. For example, under the xe2x80x9cFILExe2x80x9d menu, there is a line between xe2x80x9cPrintxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cClosexe2x80x9d. There is also a visual line separating the xe2x80x9cGo Offlinexe2x80x9d menu choice from the other surrounding menu choices. In addition, there is a line above and below the two xe2x80x9cSavexe2x80x9d menu choices which visually separate these menu choices from the surrounding menu choices. When the displayed cursor is moved within the menu option region, the region is highlighted. From the top side of the highlighted region to the bottom side of the highlighted region, it appears that the displayed cursor is enabled to be displayed and enabled to be incrementally moved for about 15 discrete pixel (picture element) positions. That is, the height of a menu choice region appears to be about 15 pixels. For most of the menu choices that are not separated by a line boundary, if a menu choice region is highlighted, i.e., selected, then a single discrete movement of the cursor away from the boundary of the highlighted region will cause the adjacent menu choice to the highlighted, i.e., selected. However, it appears that between the xe2x80x9cPrintxe2x80x9d menu choice and the xe2x80x9cClosexe2x80x9d menu choice, which are separated by a visual line, the cursor can be moved away from the xe2x80x9cPrintxe2x80x9d highlighted region such that xe2x80x9cPrintxe2x80x9d is no longer highlighted, i.e., selected, without the adjacent xe2x80x9cClosexe2x80x9d menu choice being highlighted. It appears that the displayed cursor can be incrementally moved about 10 pixel positions towards the next menu choice before the next menu choice becomes highlighted, i.e., selected. Although the xe2x80x9cClosexe2x80x9d menu choice is separated visually by a line, and by a region of cursor movement that does not cause a menu selection, the separation is negligible in terms of preventing a user from overshooting a desired menu choice, e.g., xe2x80x9cPrintxe2x80x9d, and selecting another menu choice, e.g., xe2x80x9cClosexe2x80x9d, in error.
A current solution to this problem is to provide a confirmation dialog which requires a user to confirm the selection of a choice that may produce a highly undesirable result. Confirmation dialogs require extra effort on the part of the user, and are typically found to be undesirable by users.
An apparatus, method, and program product are provided for reducing the chance of a user accidentally making a menu selection error while moving a displayed pointer through a list of menu choices without causing the user extra effort in confirming a menu choice. A separating region is displayed adjacent to certain menu choices which have a potential of causing undesirable results if erroneously selected by the user. Such a menu choice is referred to herein as a problem menu choice or problem menu option or problem menu selection. The displayed region is a non-selectable area. That is, even though it is visually associated with the problem menu choice, the problem menu choice is not enabled to be selected when the displayed cursor is within the region. As such, the region spatially isolates the problem menu choice from other menu choices.
In some preferred embodiments, the region surrounds the problem menu choice on all sides of the problem menu choice. In other embodiments, the separating region is displayed on just one or more of the sides of the problem menu choice, such as above the problem menu choice, or below it, or to one or more sides of it. The positioning of the separating region takes into consideration the direction that a displayed pointer is typically moved across the list of menu choices, and whether or not other menu choices are positioned above, below, or next to the problem menu choice. For example, a problem menu choice at the bottom of a list of menu choices may have a separating region above the problem menu choice, but not below the problem menu choice.
In addition to displaying a separating region adjacent to a problem menu choice, the preferred embodiments of the invention provide a method and means for notifying the user upon movement of the displayed pointer, i.e., cursor, into the separating region. As such, if the user did indeed overshoot a menu choice, any such notification serves also as a notification of an overshoot of a desired menu choice or selectable area. For different embodiments, the notification may include at least one of the following method or means: i) causing the displayed pointer to have a change in its appearance, such as by causing it to blink or change colors; ii) causing an audio indication such as a beep or a tone as the displayed pointer moves into the separating region; and iii) causing a cursor, controlled by a pointing device, to have a change in its rate of movement, as it enters into a separating region, relative to the movement of the pointing device. In other embodiments, the rate of movement of the displayed pointer is dependent upon the distance the displayed pointer is from a selectable area of the problem menu choice, or dependent upon the positioning of the displayed pointer within zones that have been sectioned off within the separating region.